Thinking About Self-Publishing
Thinking about publishing your own work? You’re not alone. The fact that ‘95 percent plus of unsolicited manuscripts are rejected’, brings many writers to the conclusion that they may have to take matters into their own hands, in order to realise their ambitions.
Here we consider overcoming the barriers to and the essentials for self-publishing:
"Overcoming the Barriers to Publishing Yourself"
a) Why do you want your work to be published?
Be clear from the start about your reasons for wanting to have your work publish. It’ll save you a lot of time, money and soul searching later.
b) How will you get your work ready for publication?
Prepare your manuscript – get it to publication quality by; editing it yourself; having it edited professionally; having it copy-edited; a combination of these approaches.
Format your manuscript – use some basic guidelines when preparing your text and keep the formatting plain and simple so that it’s easy for those you work with later to read / format your work.
c) What approach will you take to publication?
Select your means of self-publishing, based on your reasons for publishing and the audience you wish to reach; website (your own or an other), printer (do-it-yourself), self-publishing provider (in print, print-on-demand or eBook). For wide distribution in print you’re likely to need an ISBN (international standard book number), these can be acquired from accredited agencies and come with certain terms and conditions attached.
d) As an unknown author; how will you promote your publication?
It can be time consuming and cost you some of your hard earned to get your work published. But, what happens once it has been published. Think about ways and means and the audience for your work. Think about the gap between your writing and the reader, how will you bridge it – how will you form a connection between them, you and your book?
Consider the essentials:
Before You
Self-Publish Toolkit
-
Essential Ingredients
Know why it’s so important for YOU to have your work published.
Make sure you’ve got a good manuscript (a novel, collection of short stories or poetry or ...).
Prepare to be practical. What takes off or sells can be down to many factors beyond our control – dictated by fashion, the Media, trendy or topical subject matter or even Marketing hype. It isn’t always about the quality of the writing, sometimes it’s what you're writing about that matters.
Think about promotion way ahead of publishing; create a plan for how you will get yourself and your work known to your target readership. It’s important, for example, it could influence the book you choose to publish, the cover design and even the title you choose for your work.
Think it through, be prepared and importantly continue to write.
© editor@unheardwords.com, 2005 (all rights reserved)
Comment, Answers, Feedback
WriteIn or email
editor@unheardwords.com (editor@unheardwords.com)
Back to Top or
Return To Home
